1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of ice makers such as for use in domestic refrigerators and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
In one form of ice maker, an ice mold and associated mechanism is mounted in the freezer compartment of a domestic refrigerator/freezer apparatus. An excellent example of such an ice maker is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,225 of William J. Linstromberg, which patent is owned by the assignee hereof.
Such ice makers are provided with resistance heaters for heating the mold upon completion of the forming of the ice bodies therein so as to permit freeing of the ice bodies therefrom for dispensing automatically to a subjacent collecting bin. One end of the mold is mounted to a support portion of as control housing. Projecting ends of the mold heaters extend through the support to within the housing where terminating wire leads are attached for connection to other components, as illustrated in FIG. 4 of the Linstromberg patent.
A thermal overload protection thermostat is mounted to the support for thermal transfer contact with the end wall of the mold. Conventionally, the thermostat is secured to the support by a bracket retained thereto by a screw passing through an eyelet connected to a ground wire, and also threaded into the mold for grounding the mold concurrently.
A pair of limit switches are actuated by a cam driven by a drive motor, as illustrated in FIG. 15 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,255. As shown, these elements are mounted to the inside surface of a plate covering the support.
Power is provided to the control mechanism through a wiring harness by means of hand-secured electrical connectors, screw terminals, and conventional threaded wire nuts. Such electrical connections are relatively expensive and time consuming, and because of the complexity of the circuitry, errors in effecting such connections occur from time to time in manufacture.
Further, if the thermostat or motor requires replacement, the motor and switch assembly must first be removed and the wiring disconnected to permit the desired replacement. If the mold heater requires replacement, the motor and switch assembly must first be removed, and the support separated form the mold to provide access to the heater. This effectively constitutes a disassembly of the entire ice maker.